LIfe + Style 26 May 2017

21 August, 2015

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The perfect decor Page 2

THE WEEKEND

Featuring

Home & Living | Art & Creativity | Design & Build

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Decorating with style A space for your taste

Stepping inside, your first reaction is probably something along the lines of: “Wow”.

“We believe in helping people create bespoke spaces they fall in love with”

lifestyle. We take pride in getting it right for people.”

It’s not just about selling furniture either, says Kylie. The Design Depot consultants are there to build a personal connection with their clients to better understand their unique style and help bring that style to their home.

“Through our in-home furniture and design consultations our staff members really get to know some of our customers well and get a really good understanding of how they like to live in their homes. This helps to build a great rapport between the customer and our design experts, therefore being able to be in tune with helping create their dream space” “We also absolutely love it when our customers come into our store and show us photos of our products in their homes. So often we only see our pieces leaving the store so it’s always great to actually see where they end up.”

The Design Depot can help blend what’s ‘on trend’ in furniture with what the customer wants to say through their decor.

With an up-to-date knowledge of the latest trends, the team can help create a fashionable yet unique feel for your home.

“What’s trending currently is an organic textural look, as well as deep greens and velvets,” says Kylie.

It’s all about connecting with your home,

Photos: Bruce Barnard

From there, you’ll be greeted by a warm, friendly face, asked if you need any help, and let loose to browse the range of gorgeous furniture at your leisure.

That’s The Design Depot way.

Whether you’re in the market for something edgy or something sleek, designer or delightful, The Design Depot can help you find it and have it gracing your home in no time.

The Design Depot is all about enjoying your surroundings and knowing that your taste and personality can be shared through your furniture.

“We believe in helping people create bespoke spaces they fall in love with – it’s not just about the furniture, but the way a space is finished off with stunning drapes and accessories to complete the look.

“We offer truly personalised products, services, and results. We’re the place to find edgy, cool, products.”

Kylie says The Design Depot will happily go the extra mile to find the latest in furniture and find the pieces that speak for themselves; whether they are quirky, highend fashion, or glamorous.

“We travel overseas to hand-pick unique items and to work with our New Zealand suppliers to create custom pieces that will stand out in our customers’ homes.”

And if you’re not sure on the direction your home should take, the team are experts in helping you find your way.

“We really try to get a good understanding of the customers’ needs and how they like to live in their own home environment” “It’s really important to know whether you have children or pets, whether you live by the sea or in the country and whether you prefer comfort over looks or a mix of both.

By understanding our customers we can make the best recommendation of the type of products to best suit their space and their

your space, your furniture, and making it work for you.

So whether your taste is quirky and fun, or glamorous and edgy, The Design Depot can help bring your own unique style to your furniture and your space.

:: 13 Totara Street, Mount Maunganui

:: Email: office@thedesigndepot.co.nz

:: Phone: 07 572 0215

:: Visit: www.thedesigndepot.co.nz

:: Mon - Fri: 9am - 5pm, Sat - Sun: 10am - 4pm

Charlotte Glen and Kylie Marsh

26 May, 2017

Creative communities

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Ross Farr

Supervisor Dawn Barber and Christine McAinch

Care and Craft need helpers

It was the early 90s and Dawn and her husband Ron had just sold Lindisfarne, a small rest home in Tauranga. It’s since had a name change to Fraser Manor.

“Lindisfarne is an island off the north east of England. The original owners are from that area.

She wondered what to do in her winters.

“In the summer I used to play a lot of bowls.

I knew about Care and Craft because some of my oldies went to it.”

She has been involved as a helper ever since, from 1993 to the present day, and is now the Otumoetai Care and Craft Supervisor and secretary for NZ Care and Craft.

“Two of our helpers - Rita Owen and Fay Russell have both given 32 years each to Care and Craft,” says Dawn, “but we are getting so desperate for more helpers.”

The Otumoetai group meets on Wednesdays at St Columbia Church hall near Cherrywood.

One of Dawn’s team, Sheila Briggs, organises fun mornings, films and entertainment starting at 9.30am and ending about 12.30pm with a light lunch.

“They love knitting so we do a lot of that,”

says Dawn.

There used to be six Care and Craft centres in Tauranga, providing companionship for adults with disabilities or lonely housebound people. There are now only two groups operating, one in Otumoetai and one in Brookfield, with another in Katikati.

The group in Greerton had more than 60 people coming to it, but it too had to close down because there were not enough helpers to run it.

Founded in Auckland in 1974 by Rewa Henderson, Care and Craft centres grew in numbers throughout New Zealand. Not affiliated to any religious organisation, they often run in community or church halls one morning per week.

The groups are made up of helpers and guests.

Helpers, volunteers with available time, require no special qualifications, only a caring spirit and a willingness to assist with craft work, kitchen or general duties, or to drive the guests to and from the centre.

“There are six helpers,” says Dawn of the Otumoetai group. “Sheila Briggs is responsible for the variation of what we do. She organises a lot of the social mornings.”

Guests are offered tuition in weaving, bathmats and knitted novelties, crochet, cardmaking, painting, knotted rugs, toy-making, Rummikub and painted embroidery. And always there is the friendly caring atmosphere.

“Helpers, volunteers with available time, require no special qualifications, only a caring spirit and a willingness to assist”

This month Dawn, in her role as secretary for NZ Care and Craft, is organising the third annual NZ conference, to be held in Tauranga.

Speakers include a community constable and a representative from Life Unlimited who works with people with physical disabilities.

In the past established centres have helped finance new centres. These, in turn, become self-supporting through weekly trading tables and support from their local communities.

These days though, the local $1 and $2 shops, markets and op shops receive the bulk of the available spending dollar.

If you know of a prospective guest, or if you feel you can help, please contact Dawn Barber on (07) 576 7783.

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Belinda Tulip and activities coordinator Sheila Briggs

Photos: Tracy Hardy

“I’m all right in the summer, but I’m a dead loss in the winter,” Dawn Barber remembers saying when asked what she was going to do on her retirement.

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26August, May, 2017 life+style The Weekend Sun 21 2015

Fashionable furnishing Furnishing your home is a chance for you to express your artistic voice and to show your guests your individual taste. Thankfully, furnishings can be changed to suit the season, current trends, or your evolving preferences. From dinky little decorations to fancy upholstery, personalising your space has never been so easy.

Furnish is your first stop for all things interiors - furniture, soft furnishing and accessories to suit your space.

Think bold, think bright, think beautiful - with Kowhai Interiors.

Prestige Framing - for ready framed artwork or get them to frame something of your own to freshen up your interior.

(Artwork by Tracy Stamatakos)

26 May, 2017 2015 21 August,

You will find an exquisite array of beautiful furniture and decor at Florence & Co.

FLORENCE & CO. HOME FURNISHINGS AND DESIGN 55 Ninth Ave, Tauranga 07 281 1409 www.florenceandco.com

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May, 2017 life+style The Weekend Sun 2126August, 2015 Rob Hicks with his model for a Tauranga Historical Precinct.

Inside Rob’s shed A world of miniature treasures The roller door goes up on Rob Hicks’ green shed and an unbelievable sight greets us. Among the model planes, boats, uniforms, cars, and tanks is Rob’s model for a Tauranga Historical Precinct.

Photos: Tracy Hardy

“This is what I thought you might want to look at,” says Rob, a long-time strong supporter of a museum for Tauranga. “On Cliff Rd, extending out over the railway line.”

The existing rose gardens are to the left of his museum model, which is built over the carpark of the old bowling club. There are two layers of car parking, with space under the museum itself for workshops to prepare displays for the exhibitions.

The ground level would be the entrance lobby and café. Overlooking the water is a large restaurant from the basement to ground level.

“I woke up about 4am, 10 or 15 years ago,” says Rob. “There’d been talk about not having a museum of Tauranga, so I got up and did a sketch and made it like the shape of a waka. Then I took it to an architect and asked if there was anyone who could draw it up and make it presentable for taking to council.

“We finished up with plans but we needed a model, so I started building it. Two architectural students came out to my shed, sat down and spent about a week off-and-on drawing it up and cutting it out.”

Rob approached Fraser Tweedie of New Zealand Rail to obtain approval for the concept of the railway line going through a tunnel under the museum.

He even thought of an area for buses to pull in for pre-paid tours. And there’s a special entrance and area for acknowledging Maori taonga (treasures).

Tucked away on a shelf nearby is another model, this time capturing some of the Battle of Gallipoli.

His larger diorama of the Battle of Gate Pa was on public display at the Tauranga Airport and was part of the Battle of Gate Pa exhibition in the Greerton Hall in 2014. It included 150 miniature lead soldiers and is now being stored in The Elms Mission House garage.

His green shed also houses a miniature waka and a sailing boat.

Inside his home there are more collections – an upright grand piano more than 100-years-old, furniture that belonged to his grandparents, paintings and prints, a telescope, a Dacre Smyth painting of Gallipoli and a Dinky Toy collection in his office.

In the lounge, a fascinating model of New York Harbour with boats on it sits tucked away behind the couch.

There’s warships, The Queen Elizabeth I, tugboats and lifeguard boats, with tiny exquisite detail.

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“My first ever Dinky Toy was purchased about 1947 when the war had finished. I would have been six or seven-years-old.

I chose an American army Jeep.”

“Another chap collected this and I bought it off him. I don’t think you can buy them now,” says Rob, who bought the harbour diorama about 10 years ago.

The proceeds were used by the seller, Ivan Lindsey, to produce a 500-page book, titled ‘In the heavens above’ about New Zealand airmen being trained in Canada.

“I just love miniature things, and all the detail,” says Rob. “I’ve never told my wife what it cost me.”

In another corner is a display of Chatham Island shells collected from the stomachs of codfish.

“I’ve never seen orange and purple shells.”

Rob is concerned all his collections will one day be dispersed and gone.

“This is partly why we built the big red shed so memorabilia can go into it.

“But I’ve filled that already.”

The red shed has a collection of military models.

“My first ever Dinky Toy was purchased about 1947 when the war had finished. I would have been six or seven-years-old. I chose an American army Jeep.”

No Dinky Toy models were made between 1941 and 1945. The French Meccano factory was occupied by the Germans, and the British factory was on war work. One of the first new models released after the war were U.S. military Jeeps.

“I had ridden in a Jeep in the middle of the war when the Americans arrived here and my aunt was in the Red Cross Transport Corp.”

With the recent talks resuming about a museum for Tauranga, Rob is feeling inspired once again.

His concept would link up The Elms, which represents the period from 1830-1880, with the Monmouth Redoubt, the Tauranga Mission Cemetery and the Brian Watkins House which is

about a 15 minute walk away and represents the period from the 1890s to 1960s. It would tell the story of Tauranga, and also be the repository of Maori artefacts held in storage in Auckland and Tauranga.

The Tangata Whenua Collective also wholeheartedly supports the Cliff Rd location.

Rob submitted his design more than 10 years ago.

“The word ‘museum’ became a dirty word because several councilors lost their seats going back two elections ago,” says Rob. “And so I changed the name to Tauranga Historical Precinct. I think it’s the right time to start building a museum. Money has been promised by central government. The Auckland Museum was only completed 80 years after the first sod was turned.”

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

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